A report released from the Anti-Defamation League on Sept. 18 explains how white supremacy has become a global threat thanks to the Internet.
The report, titled “Hate Beyond Borders: The Internationalization of White Supremacy,” warns of “surging violence in the United States and Europe motivated by right-wing extremism” that has metastasized from “virtual and actual gatherings” of white supremacists.
“As we’re seeing a series of deadly attacks around the world motivated by elements of white supremacy, we thought it was time to pull together a report that looks at how white supremacists abroad influences here in the United States and vice versa,” ADL Center on Extremism Director Oren Segal told the Journal in a phone interview.
Platforms like Twitter, 8chan and Reddit have helped create “an echo chamber” for white supremacists.
“This networking online and in person emboldens them and gives them the impression that the white supremacist movement is thriving,” the report states. “This, in turn, encourages white supremacists to believe they have widespread credibility and support, while creating an international marketplace for their hateful ideas.”
The report points out that Patrick Crusiuis, who allegedly shot and killed 22 people in El Paso, Tex., said in his manifesto that one of his inspirations Brenton Tarrant, the alleged gunman behind the terror attacks at the New Zealand mosques in March.
Segal said the “animating factors” mentioned in white supremacist discussions and manifestos include “the idea of ‘white genocide,’ the idea that whites are going to be extinct because of demographic changes, the idea that diversity and multiculturalism poses a risk to whites around the world,” largely stemming from “increasing nonwhite immigration into Europe and the U.S.”
The report goes onto list myriad examples white supremacist “influencers” and international coordination, such as former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader David Duke giving various anti-Semitic speeches throughout Europe.
“In December 2018, when the far-right party Vox won seats in the Spanish Parliament in the Andalusia region, Duke tweeted, ‘VOX triumphs in Andalusia! 12 seats and the end of the socialist regime …and shows that change is possible,’” the report states, adding that Duke’s tweet caused the KKK to trend on Twitter in Spain.
The report also documents instances of white supremacist conferences held in the United States that have featured speakers from outside of the country, such as alt-right leader Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute conference in 2013 featuring “a number of Europeans including Frenchman Alain De Benoist, one of the original ‘new right’ ideologues. Another Frenchman, Roman Bernard, co-hosted the conference with Richard Spencer. Piero San Giorgio of Switzerland, author of Survive — ‘The Economic Collapse,’ a book that is popular among Identitarians, also spoke.”
Social media companies have engaged in numerous attempts to de-platform sites that promulgate white supremacist rhetoric, but white supremacists “continue to find alternative sites that allow them to share their racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic views,” the report states.
“There are so many other platforms that exist in which white supremacists can communicate,” Segal said.
The report concludes, “European and American adherents are learning from each other, supporting each other and reaching new audiences. They feel empowered and emboldened because they perceive that they are influencing the political climate and reaching disaffected whites.”
Anti-Defamation League Senior Vice President for International Affairs Sharon Nazarian said in congressional testimony on Sept. 18 that Congress should “strengthen laws against perpetrators of online misconduct, and it can encourage online forums to implement more robust governance against cyberhate” and that Congress and the State Department should add white supremacist organizations under the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
“We must act swiftly, decisively and comprehensively to counter this threat and prevent it from metastasizing,” Nazarian said.
Segal told the Journal there needs to be “a holistic approach” to fighting white supremacy, mainly “law enforcement, community organizations, the bully pulpit to stop the normalization of some of these hateful tropes.”
Source: The Jewish Journal
URL:
https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/304725/adl-report-discusses-rise-in-international-white-supremacism/